The present invention relates generally to a railway rail fastener and more particularly to a railway rail fastener which secures a rail to a railroad tie or a slab while simultaneously providing support to the rail against horizontal forces.
In rail systems there are many instances where unusual horizontal forces are placed on the rails which tend to cause misalignment and changes in the gauge of the track as well as overturning of rails. Such lateral forces occur where the tracks are curved and where braking forces on a train's wheels are uneven causing erratic wheel behavior, for instance when only one wheel will grab which causes a pivoting moment to be imparted to the wheels' axle and/or its truck assembly tending to greatly increase transverse forces on the rail. In addition, out of round wheels or uneven wheel surfaces or undulations in the track bed cause vibration as the train wheels pass over the track which also puts uneven and erratic transverse forces onto the rails. Thus for optimum track installation and to minimize track maintenance necessary to reset rails to the correct gauge it is desirable to provide lateral bracing to the rails. Since the rails must also be secured to the respective ties, or a base slab where ties are not used, the solution offered by the present invention, that is a combined rail fastener and brace which is easily installed and removed affords a unique solution to the problem of securing and bracing rails.
Heretofore, rail fastening systems have been proposed for securing railroad rails to railway ties or other base members but typically such fastening means have made no provision to support the rail and brace it against lateral or horizontal forces imparted to the rail due to the passage of trains thereon.
Some prior art rail fastening systems have suggested means to provide lateral bracing to the rail but these systems utilize auxiliary means as the lateral bracing member and most require special constructions for the railroad tie and are not universally adaptable to all types of railroad ties.